Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: Please consider removing use.stable.mask and package.use.stable.mask

[Thomas Kahle <tomka@gentoo.org>]

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On 11/13/2013 03:30 PM, Duncan wrote:
> Rich Freeman posted on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:37:51 -0500 as excerpted:
> 
>> On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 8:25 AM, Thomas Kahle <tomka@gentoo.org> wrote:
>>> On 11/13/2013 12:39 PM, Tom Wijsman wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:28:02 +0000 (UTC)
>>>> Martin Vaeth <vaeth@mathematik.uni-wuerzburg.de> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hello.
>>>>>
>>>>> The new "features" use.stable.mask and package.use.stable.mask have
>>>>> turned maintaining systems with mixed ARCH and ~ARCH keywords into a
>>>>> nightmare:
>>>>
>>>> They are considered unsupported by many; so, going down that path you
>>>> need to be acquainted with Portage enough to keep a consistent system.
>>>
>>> This argument has come up several times, but is it valid?
>>
>> Honestly, opinions vary on this one and I don't think it is a productive
>> path to go down.  I also feel that being able to mix keywords is a big
>> benefit of using Gentoo.  I'd rather focus on practical ways to make
>> this easier rather than whether it is desirable.
>>
>> That said, there are always going to be situations where mixing keywords
>> isn't practical.  You're not going to run stable chromium against ~arch
>> v8, or mixed keywords between kdelibs and kwin, etc.
> 
> FWIW, I believe at least part of the confusion here is based on differing 
> definitions of "supported".

I agree.  Generally however, we should think Gentoo (or the open
source ecosystem) more bazaar, less cathedral.  Libraries have
interfaces, and they are supposed to be mixed and matched
according to the interface definitions.  We (Gentoo) should not
think of "Gentoo stable" as a fixed product like "iOS-7".  It has
come a long way, but philosophically I still think of Gentoo as a
kind of automated Linux-from-scratch (where you also mix and
match whatever you find on the Internets).

In the end it boils down to what we mean by "supported".  For me
"supported" does not mean "tested".  As you point out, testing
every combination forbids itself.  Supported for me means that
the argument "you mixed stable and unstable" is not per se valid.
There's a huge difference between

You mixed unstable firefox with stable gcc

and

You mixed unstable X server with stable protocols.

For me mixing the trees is supported in the sense that I would
apply rational judgement to bugs.  If they are of the second
type, it can be said in a polite way that we as Gentoo can't do
anything about this combination not working.

Cheers,
Thomas

-- 
Thomas Kahle


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